Hearts a Mess
by ravencherries
Summary: Crossing paths with Uchiha Itachi is never a good thing, but in her case... it's the complete opposite. Sakura Haruno isn't sure if she should take chances or not, but all she knows is that he could help her. ItaSaku.


**A/N:**_ Hello reader! I know I shouldn't be making anymore stories, but I've had this idea in my head for probably about a month and I thought maybe I could give it a try. It's my first Canon!Itachi and Canon!Sakura one, (I think) and I'm excited about it. I hope you like it._

_I guess you can call it my twist on the series for I am incorporating Sakura doing something different besides staying with Naruto in the village and trying to find Sasuke herself. More details in the story!_

_Sorry for any mistakes you notice. I currently do not have a beta, but I will try my best to avoid mistakes._

**_Summary:_**

_Crossing paths with Uchiha Itachi is never a good thing, but in her case... it's the complete opposite. Sakura Haruno isn't sure if she should take chances or not, but all she knows is that he could help her._

* * *

**"Sasuke..."**

**"Sakura."**

**"Sasuke, kill her. She's a nuisance."**

**...**

**"What... happened to you?"**

* * *

How long has it been since she had left the village? Probably around nine days, but it felt like months; even years at times, ever since she was in the safety of her village. _Ex-village_.

But to know her reasoning to have left her home was useless and completely a waste of minutes, she wouldn't even have thought about setting foot out of the village in the first place. Everything had gone down the drain. Her plan to bring him home, her plan to come home with her best friend and love, her plan and everything has completely failed.

The guilt of leaving Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, Ino... everyone was always lingering around in the pit of her stomach and each day it seemed to get much more powerful than before. It hurt. Why would she even do this in the first place? She knew why. She wanted to because she loved Sasuke and wanted to be with him once again.

Her love was not any kind of mindless little affection for the Uchiha but it was a mature love. Really no one besides her could understand this feeling. She loved him.

That's all she thought even as she stumbled face forward into the cold snow below her.

With a strained grunt, Sakura Haruno landed onto the white ground. Immediate cold filled her body as she couldn't gather enough energy to push herself up; even to move her face to at least look up.

Even with the heavy cloak covering her body, the piercing snow that was hurling towards her from the sky was right on point when it attacked her back and the top of her pink head. Was this her punishment maybe? Dying in the middle of a snowstorm was not how she wanted to go.

Being the stubborn and will-driven girl she was always, the pinkette clenched her gloved fists and even after what happened just mere hours ago, she somehow gained enough strength to push herself up from the ground while just trembling slightly from head to toe. Her emerald eyes however were cloudy with visible weariness and her quickly deceasing strength. The darkening bags under her lowly lit eyes were clear against her now unusually pale skin and...

really, she just looked like she was on the verge of the death and maybe she was, but she couldn't really conclude it. Even though she was a highly-trained medic-nin, she knew she could figure that out but she could not even conjure enough chakra to heal the swelling around her neck. Thinking of the wound, she frowned softly as she continued cautiously forward to the unknown.

All she wanted was a place to rest.

_Huff. Huff. Huff._

Her deep breaths were getting heavier by the passing second yet she could not even hear the deep inhales and exhales, only feel them rack up and down her frail body, because the raging storm and the growing winds were clogging her ears. Actually they were popping almost. The wind was beating against her and she was just surprised she had not caved in and fell over. It was almost scary to know she hasn't fallen over.

She was pushing herself and knowing this, she knew she was on her last string.

But even through the thick cover of the still raging snow falling sharply into her face, Sakura's eyes went wide. It was almost as if on cue, almost like a gift from Kami. Really it was just an amazing coincidence. From the distance, she spotted a deserted old, wooden home. It almost looked like a barn of some sort and she knew it was abandoned from the way the doors were wide open and no lights were visible.

Now who would leave any door or window open on such a storm like this.

Still laggard as she is, the kunoichi limped towards the only shelter she could see as fast as she could. She left a trail of stepped in snow behind but the snow had already covered her tracks just after they were made. The feeling in her chest was warm with excitement and pure relief. Maybe she would make it through this after all.

Once she got closer, she realized she was right. It was an abandoned farm. Around the only structure was a broken, wear-down fence and underneath piles of snow she saw an outhouse and another smaller house to the right. However that home was completely in ruins. The roof was caved in and she could see the pure white snow through the windows. A frown lit her lips. Did the past homeowners here die in that home?

Sakura could not exactly think about it because as soon as she stepped foot into the barn, she fell onto her knees. It wasn't warm. It was still as cold as it was outside but after crawling deeper into the dark shelter, the snow did not shoot onto her face anymore but she still felt cold to the bone unfortunately. It did not fade away even as she vigorously rubbed her gloved hands on her arms. Even the heavy cloak did not help; only giving her a small bit of warmth and that did not do any good.

Unconsciously she was feeling herself slip. Her eyes were becoming heavier every second as she looked forward at the open door and towards the white scene in front of her. She was completely wore out. Both physically and mentally. Especially mentally. And finally her eyes closed.

When she gets enough strength to heal and move normally, should she go back home? Would they hate her and call her a traitor? She felt her chest cringe thinking that. They might. She did really just run away from Konoha without a word, carelessly leaving behind her friends and family almost heartlessly. Another cringe of her chest. They will probably hate her for doing such a sin. She would too.

But would they understand why? Sakura was sure they knew she dearly missed the missing Uchiha and how much she loved him. Also she was doing this for her team. Naruto would understand... right? Kakashi, too. She just hoped they would, but this did not mean she was coming back. She still needed answers.

Her eyes slowly began to open again. Had time passed? She did not know. But she had the sudden urge to open her eyes, she felt... something. Also a slight nauseous feeling but that just must be because she had not ate anything for what seemed to be a day. Her leaden eyes finally crept open and she saw nothing but the white snow furiously falling outside; the storm had not let up at all. It actually seemed to get stronger after her short dozing off.

Her head slowly fell onto her shoulder as she stared outside. Her life was going slightly downhill at the moment.

Finally, passive green eyes looked over to her side curiously, just to move her eyes away from the white mess outside and then slowly to the other.

But she would have screamed if it wasn't for the lump in her extremely dry throat. All she could do was stare at the menacingly dark figure sitting down against the wall she was leaning against. She could not make out a face due to whoever they were being consumed in the shadows of the barn and all she could see was a two legs casually sprawled out.

Someone was here. Right next to her.

Were they unconscious? How did she not notice them before? Sakura realized she was asking herself too many questions that will probably stay unanswered and she continued to stare in fear at the mystery figure. The nauseating feeling in her belly sky-rocketed tenfold and she froze.

She was completely dried out and strength and simply defenseless at the moment. No chakra was available and even if she strained her chakra with her most stength, she could not even get a small drop of it. She was just pure prey at the moment; an absolute meal for the hunter to kill and devour. Maybe _this_ was the punishment for leaving. To be killed by an eery person inside of a barn during a deadly winter storm.

But... they could be unconscious, she reminded her weary self.

Suddenly the two legs shifted. One of the lean limbs scooting inward until their knee was upward and the other just shifting into another spot. At a scarily slow pace that made the small hair on the back of her neck stand straight up.

Oh no.

Then they both scooted inwards until their whole body scrunched up and pushed forward. This person had slowly stood up with quiet grace and started walking towards her, the shadows still covering their identity and only making this entire situation more unnerving as if it wasn't already.

Cold sweat started to bead onto her forehead, her eyes widening and her teeth clenching as they inched slowly closer to her helpless form. The now antsy and anxious feeling in her chest was bursting through the seams and making her more scared and more desperate just to move away. But she couldn't. As much as she tried to push herself up or just to move away from the approaching figure, Sakura just could not move a finger. This is it.

Then finally they bent down in front of her, slowly as if they were taking their sweet time just to scare her, and then she finally found out who they were. And this was the worst shock of all.

She smelled the musky, yet faint smell of smoke and burnt out fire. Their curtain of dark bangs brushed forward and slightly tickled her forehead as they leaned in. Thin lips came into view, then a pale face slowly revealed itself and this only made her heart drop.

"Aa... Y-You." She choked out, her voice creaking and husky. "Sa... Sasuke?"

Those burning sharingan blazed eyes and the raven hair were in front of her. Those crimson eyes however seemed different... They held a more passive, peaceful gaze then they usually did but they looked the same anyhow. They were much more different than the last time he saw her. Just a day ago... a dark, uncaring glare from him and why was he back now? Also acting so differently then from before?

A pale hand was reaching towards her and an index finger and thumb caught her chin, making her look up . She was almost thankful because her head was slowly becoming heavier than she thought it could ever be. The grip on her chin was not hurting her, surprisingly, but it was just a gentle hold on her chin and she felt a small warm tinge from the spot he made contact with.

Due to the way their faces were so close to each other, she noticed his skin had not been marred at all from the storm outside and he held no expression. Well there was non apparent at the moment, just a passive gaze. How did he get here without getting a simple bruise or scratch? She knew she at least got beaten up from the storm but he seemed to be in perfect health, as if nothing happened... how?

"...no." She heard him reply softly but her eyes slowly widened. _This isn't Sasuke_. This did not sound like him, not one bit. This voice was more smooth... more emotionless than his will ever be. And Sasuke's voice almost held no emotion. It had a more softer tenor than his. The grip on her chin tilted her head to the right. Sakura winced under her breath from the sudden jerk, her neck was still sore from her failed plan's consequences.

After the seemingly eternal silence, Sakura croaked.

"...Uchiha Itachi?" She whispered almost too quietly she did not think he would hear, but of course he did; not that she knew or cared. "Wh-What are you doing here?" Her green eyes wearily glazed across his face, never meeting his eyes. Suddenly she became irritated.

This was the man who ruined Sasuke's life, the reason he ran away, the reason he betrayed them all, the one person who is hunting down her shinobi brother, Naruto... the reason why she set foot out for Sasuke and betrayed her own family and friends in the first place. It is all his fault, she concluded harshly in her clouding mind. All him.

She would've told him to not touch her but she was scared.

This was the man who had killed one of the powerful clans of Konoha just on his own. How could she not be scared under his presence? Even if she was furious at him for what he has done to them all and disturbingly surprised to even see him here, she couldn't stifle down the uneasiness welling up into her face. As if her skin wasn't already pale, she felt her blood run pathetically cold and a shiver run down her spine.

"Haruno..." He slowly drawled her name out. "Sakura." It was as if she was an animal. He said it so slowly, so calm. It made her angry.

She took a quick glance upwards to see the great Itachi Uchiha looking at her, but not at her face but at her neck. His calm eyes were slowly examining her. It made her skin to crawl to know this. He was planning to kill her, wasn't he?

"Don't hurt-..." She had a change of heart then. "...touch me." Sakura said quietly as she tried her best to give him her deadliest glare. However the only thing she could muster was her eyes scrunching up and her eyebrows slightly knitted together. She looked like a kitten due to the frailness visible on her features. She felt like she was going to pass out any second, but she was trying her best to keep her heavy eyes open. The blurring image of the elder Uchiha in front of her was slowly darkening, much to her deep worry. She did not want to be unconscious in the same room with a killer.

"Your neck... What happened?" He asked quietly, ignoring her harsh retort completely as he averted his eyes to hers. And of course, she quickly looked to another place. His forearm is where she settled her deep glare, or more of a deep gaze. Inhaling through her nose, she refused to answer.

However that was a bad decision. He pushed her head up to look at him and their eyes meet finally. This only made her head spin more as she got caught in the deep crimson of his eyes. The sharingan was a really beautiful eye technique. Even though they were extremely deadly, you could just get hypnotized by their appearance. She also took note in the long eyelashes that framed them. It only made them more appealing, she thought unconsciously to herself. Sakura couldn't tear her eyes away, but she knew she should.

The still emotionless look of the Uchiha did not waver as he slightly narrowed his eyes at her.

"What has happened to your neck?" He repeated more sternly, authority of him being the tougher specimen at that moment apparent as he hovered above her.

Sakura could only stare at him. She had mixed emotions currently.

Scared to know that Itachi Uchiha was in front of her. Mad to know that she was completely defenseless at the moment. Concerned for her life. Upset to know she cannot do anything to protect herself. And surprised to know that Itachi Uchiha is asking about her well-being.

Of all people, the infamous and ruthless missing-nin of Konoha and murderer of the Uchiha clan was asking her about a wound on her neck...

She inhaled a much needed breath through her nose before sliding her eyes closed.

"None of your business." Sakura answered, finally in a quiet tenor. Her tone was more emotionless than it has ever been. She felt the grip on her chin soften.

"Tell, kunoichi." Itachi replied back with his stoic tone of voice. No emotion apparent in his voice nor face. He was like a statue. Just like what a true shinobi should be. Void of all emotions. Sakura, however, did not open her eyes but she did feel a prick in the back of her eyes. She could not cry right, she should not.

Just thinking about how this wound even was given to her made her heart cringe harshly in pain.

The wound was red stripes on her neck. They did not cut the skin, there was no blood but it was already swollen and purple in some parts. The shape of it was a hand curling around her neck in a harsh, deadly grip. A grip that only told her that he did not care about her anymore.

She bit the bottom of her lip lightly.

Itachi watched sharply the entire time.

He analyzed the way her lip got bit on by herself, how she tensed under his grip and the way her brows slightly knitted together while her eyes scrunched just by a fraction.

However... he did not say anything but instead just let go of her chin.

This made her eyes snap open instantaneously, either out of surprise or fear, as he straightened up in front of her still sitting form. Emerald eyes wearily watched, blurring in and out of consciousness as he slowly walked back to the spot he originally sat at.

Her heart was beating so hard, it thumped in her eyes as she could barely even blink and keep her eyes open. She felt so numb and the only feeling she could comprehend was the chilling breeze wafting around in her body. It was just so damn cold.

Sakura watched as he slid back down against the wall. Legs sliding outwards as he sat down back onto the hay-covered ground but suddenly everything turned black and the kunoichi lost consciousness finally.

* * *

...

He stared at the petite female as she finally caved in to her fight for consciousness. He watched with dark eyes as she slowly started to fall face forward to the floor and she did with a small thump followed after it.

Her short, pink tresses messily curtained her face and was sprawled out all around her. As if a pink crown was covering her head. Oddly enough, it looked like the pink strands were slightly covered in a thin sheet of ice. How long was she wondering out there in the storm?

Curiously, Itachi used his hand to push away strands of her hair and push her onto her back at the same time. It revealed her ghostly, unnaturally pale face. Her eyes were shut and her mouth was partly open, her slightly blue lips chap and cracked. At the edges of her long, pink eyelashes were little specks of snow that made her give the impression of being in a storm for a while. And she was. So, Itachi inwardly concluded she must have been lost in this deadly snow storm for at least half a day.

Poor soul.

And that's enough to almost kill most people due to the wickedness of this current storm.

His hand moved to the side of her arm and he infused some of his chakra into her chakra stream. As his chakra slithered through her, he realized she was completely depleted of chakra and practically hollow inside. He is not a medic nin, but he could conclude she was on the verge of death and tipping on the slim line between life and death.

Sakura Haruno. He knew of her but did not know enough to call her even an acquaintance. He only knew three important things about this girl.

She was the fifth Hokage's student, one of the three legendary sannin's own apprentice. One of the best healers to originate from Konoha. And lastly... more importantly, she was his little brother's teammate.

Itachi has only been in her presence once in his lifetime and that was when Kakashi, Naruto and Lady Chiyo were on their way to save Gaara, the Kazekage from Akatsuki's hands but from what he heard after they defeated _him_ was that they did get Gaara back and it costed one of the Akatsuki's life. Oddly enough, he heard the pink-haired kunoichi, along with Lady Chiyo had defeated Sasori. And Itachi can say that Sasori is a tough opponent to take down.

And this was all he knew of Sakura Haruno and this told him enough not to underestimate the young kunoichi.

Before he could give her an over dosage of his chakra to make himself tired of chakra, he lifted his palm off of her arm and returned it back to his lap as he turned his eyes away from the Konoha kunoichi next to him. The extra chakra he gave to her had healing elements infused in it that could somewhat help her body get more used to the cold temperatures and replenish her chakra faster. That was the best he could do and the next thing was to rest himself.

He knew that she will be out for quite some time so he did not have to worry about her suddenly getting up and moving about... or even trying to kill him. Besides that could never succeed. Itachi always slept with one eye open and it was actually a sad habit.

So, Itachi Uchiha slowly slid his eyes closed as the outside storm's whistles and winds lulled him away to sleep.

* * *

...

The sound of wind woke her up.

Verdian eyes slid open; opening slowly as she peered through them. The first thing she saw was the same thing she saw before she collapsed. The door of the barn that only viewed the complete white of the snowstorm and the grey sky. The snow was still falling a record speeds and she was guessing if she walked out into it, the snow would just beat her up.

So, this meant she was trapped in here... with him.

And the first thing that came to her cloudy mind was to turn to glance at him and she turned to face crimson eyes staring straight at her. There were no words spoken. It was just merely staring at each other and Sakura was the first to give in.

"Why..." She breathed out through raspy breaths and a husky tenor. "Are you even here, Uchiha Itachi?"

He merely gave her a last hard glance before turning forward and averting his eyes to the storm ahead of them. Of course he wouldn't answer her. Sakura frowned out of frustration and also turned to look at the snow storm since she knew she would not receive an answer from the akatsuki member.

After at least two minutes of staring at the storm, yes, she kept count of the seconds, Sakura thought she could try and see if she move her limps better than before.

Licking her chap lips as she lifted her right arm, she smiled and bent her forearm towards her while rolling her wrist back and forth. A small crack was heard but it felt rather good to get the blood pumping through her. She did the same to her left and the results were the same. A small crack. Then she bent and cracked each of her fingers slowly as if she was never able to move in her life before.

After adjusting her hands and arms, Sakura pulled her legs into her chest and slowly stretched them back outwards. A smile crossing her lips when she realized and was satisfied to know they didn't feel leaden at all. Actually... it felt like nothing happened to her before and she couldn't exactly remember what it felt like before she collapsed when she couldn't even move her arm an inch.

How did she heal so fast?

Being a medic, she knew how long it would take for someone to heal that was in her condition while ago. And how it would feel when she awoke. It wouldn't have taken this shortly, much longer in fact and she should be feeling leaden and numb in some parts.

But no... she felt perfectly fine.

She took a small glance at the Uchiha next to her and then back to the storm in front of them. No, he wouldn't... But what else could have happened. This was the affect of healing somebody. Sakura looked back at him then back at the storm. But he wouldn't, she repeated once again in her mind.

But...

"D-Did you heal me?" Sakura choked out. Silence was her response and she frowned again. So, she was trapped in a barn by a storm with a silent akatsuki member, Uchiha Itachi. How did she even get stuck in the predicament?

She took another weary glance at him before realizing what she got herself into... All because of Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

**A/N: **_Hello! I hoped you liked it! The next chapter will be much longer, I hope. Hopefully around 8k words... I don't know. That's my goal though. So, this story will be at least 20 chapters long, maybe more or less but you'll find out sooner or later. Now to update my other stories instead of making new ones. :) And I'm sorry for any mistakes you've spotted..._

_/Thanks for reading! :)_

_Reviews help me to become inspired to continue stories and are always appreciated!_


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